we need to see replicated all over the country, regardless oaf again, where people to decide to come out at the end of the day, what we have is a one person, one vote system that we have been proud of and it is each of our duty and response tobblet take advantage of that opportunity as hard as some of the hurdles may be in the road that shouldn't be there but regardless there are ways of overcoming them. and this is an important election to do that. so thanks again. >> now through election day watch our coverage of the presidential candidates plus debates from key races around the country. next republican presidential candidate mitt romney campaigns in iowa. then a look at wisconsin. after that the funeral for

former senator and presidential candidate george mcgovern. now republican presidential candidate mitt romney in ames iowa for a speech on the economy on his economic plan. according to the latest polling average, president obama holds a % lead in this state. this is about 35 minutes. ♪ >> hello everybody, how are you doing? you live in iowa and you live in a battleground state. let me say that again because i don't think i've said that in all the years i've been in politics. we're a battleground state this year and that makes it very important. and i'm glad i have the

opportunity to welcome the next president of the united states. and i know it's cool and you feel the chill but also you feel the momentum of romney being the next president of the united states. [applause] now you folks all know people who voted four years ago for president obama. you know that he promised partisanship and to reduce the deficit by half, that he was going to give us accountable government, that he was going to reduce your health insurance by $2500. today we have would have 5 and 6% unemployment instead of 8

and 9%. that was all part of economic recovery, wasn't it? this president has not delivered on his promised of 2008 and that's reason for him to not be president of the united states. he has not delivered. so it's very clear, america can't afford four more years of obama no, ma'am i cans and partisanship and the unconstitutional abuse of power by appointing so many decars and making so many expective orders beyond the constitution. and we will put america on a new path to a new day with a new president obama, a new

president romney, pardon me. you know, i want to forget that word. healthcare and gas prices are high. small businesses burdened with all the government regulation we have. an $814 stimulus that didn't work. high taxes and deficit spending hurting and killing small business, worse economic problems that america has faced since world war ii, 23 million people looking for full-time jobs, unemployment of 14% of the economy. household economy down 8.2%. 47 million people on food stamps, but that's a failure. but we americans are not quiters, we can turn this ship

around and we will turn this ship around. we will put america on a new path to a new day with a new president, mitt romney [applause] you've heard a whole new energy since that first debate, haven't you 1234 you know why? because the people of this country for the first time were able to see the real mitt romney instead of what the chicago henchman were portraying him in six months of negative advertisement. you saw a person standing there with the president of the united states who is practical, who is compassionate, who is humble and who is trustworthy and you saw a president with

all the air go out of him. he's not the obama that everybody thought he was. now president obama once said in a previous campaign and let me quote here exactly, if you don't have a record to run on, then you make big elections about small things. so is there any wonder why you're hearing from the other side about big bird and binders? that's what we call in america running from your record. and we've had all these misleading attacks and what has our candidate's response to that been? exactly what it should be. attacking me is not agenda. this president has no agenda.

so in short, we need to just simply thank president obama for his public service and let him go. we have made a conclusion that we're not going to surrender to immediate ockrasi. the high unemployment cannot become a new norm. thirst for trickle down government is coming from a well that's running dry. and we can't allow the next generation to be worse off than our generation is so this election is about making sure that for the new generation we preserve the american dream and mitt romney is going to do

that. [applause] i'm going to tell you what you know because i haven't told you. mitt romney could not be a better person qualified for the president of the united states t right philosophy, the right principles, a business leader who knows economics, a person who has created jobs, a person who has restored the olympics and as governor of massachusetts restored fiscal integrity to that state as he will do to the united states as well. he will get congress working again, he will restore hope in our future with opportunity for families and community. so in eleven more days, make sure you do everything you can to get your family, friends,

neighbors, those who you know and those you don't know to vote for mitt romney. now finally, before he comes, i said before and i don't claim to know everybody that's president of the united states well or their candidates. but i think as much as i've read about an and mitt romney, let me tell you, they're the sort of moral leaders that this country needs. and i want you to know that i believe in mitt romney. i believe that he can turn this country around and that's what this country needs is more lal leadership as much as economic leadership. but it takes good moral leadership to do the other. so will you give mitt romney a warm iowa welcome on this cold

day? [applause] ♪ ♪ >> thank you for being here. [applause] a little windy, it's going to be a great winter. we need some snow, don't we? thank you for that introduction. congressman king i appreciate you being here and the chairman

of my campaign brian kennedy thank you for being here. and for all of you braving the little cool and windy today, thank you for being here and bringing me warmth of shir pit. it's good to be back in iowa. don't think this is the last you're going to see of me and paul ryan because this state may be the state that decides what kind of america we're going to have and what kind of lives our families are going to have. so we're counting on you. and the choice you make this november will shape great things, historic things and those things will determine the most important things and intimate things in your lives, our lives, our homes, our loved ones. this is an election about america, the american family. all elections matter, of

course. but this one matters a great deal. over the years of our nation's histories, choices our fellow citizens have made have changed this country's course. there were turning points of defining consequence. we're today at a turning point which our national debt and liabilities threat on the crush our future. our economy struggles under the weight of government and fails to create the essential growth and employment that we need. at the same time emerging powers seek to shape the world in their image, china in a very different way. this is an election of consequence. our campaign is about big things because we happen to believe that america faces big challenges. we recognize this is a year with a big choice and the american people want to see big changes. and together we can bring that

kind of real change to our country. [applause] you know, four years ago candidate obama spoke to the times. he shrinks from it, from characters on sesame street and silly word games to misdirected personal attacks he knows are false. his campaign falls short of the magnitude of these times and the presidency of the last four years have fallen short of the promises of his campaign. four years ago america voted for a post partisan president but they've seen the most partisan of presidents and washington is in gridlock because of it. president obama promised to turn us together but he

divided. he promised to cut the deficit in half, he doubled it. how about his budget? it failed to win a single vote either republican or democrat in either house of the congress. he said he would reform medicare and social security and save them from pending insol venssi but he shrunk from proposing any solution at all. where are the jobs? where are the 9 million more jobs his stimulus would have created by now? they're in china, mexico, canada, in countries that have made themselves more attract tive while obama's policies have made it less attract tive here. his campaign tries to minimize the failures and to make this election about small shiney objects. it matters more than that. it matters to your family and the senior who needs an

appointment met by a receptionist saying medicare isn't taking any patients i. it matters to the man in wisconsin i spoke with a few days ago and he used to have a job at there are 25 an hour with benefits and now has one at $8 an hour without benefits. it matters to the college student with $20,000 of student debt who now learns she'll be paying for $50,000 in government debt. a burden that will put the american dream beyond the reach of oh so many. a child that can't go to a school because the union that funds it oppose the school choice t. president's campaign slogan is this, forward.

but for 23 million americans struggling to find a good job, these last four years feel like backward. we can't afford four more years like the last four years. this election is about big things, like the education of our children, the value of our homes, the take home pay from our jobs, the price for the gasoline we buy and the choices we have in our healthcare. it's about the big things that determine those things, like the growth of the economy, the strength of our military, our dependence on foreign oil and america's leadership in the world. president obama frequently reminds us that he inherited a trouble led economy, but a troubled economy is not that all he inherited. he also inherited the greatest nation in the history of the

earth. [applause] he inherited the most productive and invateiver nation in history. he inherited the largest economy in the world. and he inherited a people that have always risen to the occasion regardless of the challenges they face so long as they've been led by men and women who guided the nation with vision and conviction. despite all that he inherited president obama did not repair our economy, he did not save medicare and social security t. he did not tame the spending and borrowing. he did not reach across the aisle to bring us together. nor did he stand up to china's trade practices or improve our -- what he did with what he inherited made the problem worse. [applause]

in just four short years, he borrowed $6 trillion dollars. he forced through obama care frightening small business from hiring employees and adding thousands of dollars to every families healthcare bill. [applause] new business starts, they're at a third year low because sbre prenures are sitting on the side lines because of massive tax increases. many families can't get mortgages because of dodd-frank regulation that is made it harder for banks to lend. the president vested your money in green companies that failed

and sometimes were owned by his largest campaign contributors. he spent billions of dollars on companies which only added to our debt. energy prices are up because energy production on federal lands are down. he rejected the pipeline from canada even as gas line prices sored to new highs. the problem with the obama economy is not what he inherited. it's with the misguided policies that slowed the recovery and caused millions of americas to endure lengthy unemployment and poverty. [applause] . that's why 15 million more of our sitses are on food stamps than when he took office. that's why three million more women are living in poverty. that's why the economy is stagnant. today we received the latest

round of discouraging economic news. last quarter our economy grew just two%. after the stimulus it would be growing at 4.3%, over twice as fast. slow economic grollingt means slow job growth and declining take home pay. that's what four years of obama has produced. america is ready for change, for jobs and more take home pay and we're going to bring it to them. [applause] . now you've know we've had four presidential debates and there is nothing in what the president proposed that has any prospect of meeting the challenges of the times. ricing taxes will not ignite the economy. in fact it will destroy 700,000 jobs. a new stimulus, three years after the recession officially

ended that may spare government but it won't stimulate the private sector than did the stimulus four years ago. and cutting $1 trillion from the military would kill jobs and the defense. this is not time for the policies that have failed us. it's time for change that can measure up to the moment and can bring the american families certain that the future will be better than the past. [applause] if paul ryan and i are elected we will endeavor with all our hearts and energy to restore america. instead of more spending and more borrowing and more taxes, we'll renew our faith in the power of free people. we'll have a plan for a stronger middle class that has five elements. one we're going to tookt put america on track to a balanced

budget by eliminating unnecessary programs and send programs back to state and by shrinking the bue rock si in washington. number two, we'll produce more of the energy we need to heat our homes, fill our cars and make our economy grow. we will stop the obama war on coal and the effort to crimp natural gas and the very technology that produces it. [applause] we're going to support nuclear and renewableses and phase out once an industry is on its feet. and rather than vesting in solar we'll invest in signs science and research and by 2020 we will achieve north american energy independence. [applause]

we'll make trade work for america. we'll open more markets for american agriculture and we'll hold accountable any nation that doesn't play by the rules. i'm going to stand up for the rights and interest of american workers and employers. and we're going to grow jobs by make ug america the best place for business and manufacturers. this will mean updating regulations while lowering deductions and closing loopholes and make it clear that unlike the current administration, we actually like business and the jobs that business creates. [applause] and finally, as we create more opportunity, we'll make sure that our citizens have the skills they need. training programs will be where the people live and schools will put the interest of our

kids and teachers and parents above the interests of the teacher's unions. when we do those five things, this economy is going to come roaring back. we're going to create 12 million new jobs in four years, we'll see rising take home pay and get the economy growing at 4% a yire. we're finally going to see help for america's middle class. it is about time. [applause] and paul and i aren't going to stop. there when we take office, we're going to take responsibility to solve the big problems that everyone agrees can't wait any longer. we'll save medicare and social security for the new generation to come. we'll restore the $716 president obama has taken from medicare to pay for his obama

care. we'll reform healthcare and the cost that's been skyrocketing to provide for those with preexisting conditions as well and to ensure that every american has access to healthcare. we're going to replace government choice with consumer choice and bring the die namics of the marketplace to a that's been -- now the divide between the political parties. we're going to meet with lead erls in washington regularly. we're going to look for common ground and shared principles. we'll put the interest of the american people above the interest of the politicians. [applause] and i know something about leading. because i've led before. in business, in the olympics, in my state, i've brought people together to achieve real change. i was elected a republican

governor in a state that was 85% democrat. i came into office, we were looking at a multibillion dollar budget gap. but instead of fighting with each other we came together to solve the problems. we cut government spending and reduced it. we lowered taxes 19 times. we had school choice. we worked to move our state business friendly and it moved up 20 places in job growth. we turned a $3 billion into a $2 billion fund. i know it because i've seen it. good democrats can come together with good republicans to solve problems. what we need is leadership to make that happen. [applause] america is ready for that kind of leadership. paul ryan and i will provide it.

our plan for a stronger middle class will create jobs, stop the decline in take home pay and put america back on the path of prosperity and opportunity. this will enable us to fulfill our responsibility as the leader in the free world. we'll lep the muslim world combat the stred of extremism. we'll present iran from building a nuclear bomb. we'll partner with china and other great nationes to build a more peaceful world. we face big challenges, but we also have big opportunities. new doors have been opened to us to sell new products around the world. new technologies offer the promise of unbound invasion. new ideas are changing lives and hearts and diverse nations among diverse people's. if we seize the moment and rise to the occasion, the century ahead will be an american

century. our children will graduate into jobs that are waiting for them. our seniors will be confident that their retirement is secure. we'll have confidence that our lives are safe and that our livelihoods are secure. what this requires is change. change from the course of the last four years. it requires that we put aside the small and the petty and demand the sail of change we deserve. we need real change, big change. that time has come. our campaign -- [applause] our campaign is about that kind of change, confronting the problems that politicians have avoided for over a decade, revitalizing our competitive economy, modern niesing education, restoring our

founding principles. this change promises a better future, one shaped by men and women pursuing their dreams in unique ways. this election is a choice between the status quo going forward with the same policies of the last four years or instead choosing real change, change that offers promise, programs that the future will be better has been the past. if you're ready for that kind of change, if you want this to be a turning point in america's course. join paul ryan and me. get your friends and family to do the same and vote now for the kind of leadership that these times demand. i'm counting on iowa. iowa may be the next place to decide who the next pts is. i'm counting on you to vote, to get your friends to vote, to work at the polls to bring people out. we've got to take back america and make sure we have the kind of change that gets america

strong for us and for coming generations. thank you guys. god bless america, god bless iowa and god bless you. thank you so much. ♪ [applause] ♪

>> now through election day watch our coverage. next a look at the issues in the battleground state of wisconsin cht then we'll talk about the presidential campaign in that state with representatives from the wisconsin republican and democratic parties. >> our live road to the white house coverage begins tomorrow with a campaign rally in ohio with paul ryan. live at 4:30 p.m. vice president biden and his wife speak in virginia. that's tomorrow on c-span. >> you're watching one of 10,000 homes they're trying to get done in the next four years. these are houses that are never

coming back. new york city not right now. >> one family every 20 minutes moving out. >> these houses are disappearing from the landscape. >> yeah. >> just recently actually 164 firefighters were laid off as part of the down sizing and part of this effort for them to get the finances under control in the city. so firefighters which detroit needs because it has the highest case of arson in the country, these guys are laid off. about two weeks later 100 guys are rehired and when you look to find out where that money came from. it's actually department of homeland security has a fund for things like that. but that is something you want to think about. the department of homeland security needed to step in to

keep detroit as safe as it can be for the moment. so we're talking about i wonder and i wondered making this film, we've seen the auto industry bail out and bank bail out, are we heading into an era of such things as a failed city. >> more sunday at 8:00 on c-span. >> now several perspectives on the campaign in wisconsin. from "washington journal" this is an hour and 20 minutes. >> we're going to look at battlegrounds states not only to give you a sense of what's going on on the ground but the political and social factors people consider as they go to election day. join us as we focus on the

state of wisconsin. thaungs for joining us. guest: thanks for having me host: some of the facts when it comes to wisconsin specifically, we're looking at 10 electoral votes and an unemployment rate of 7.3% and in 2008 the president won by 1.9 points. what about that unemployment rate, can you tell us what it means for the state not only clickly but politically? guest: if you look at the trends in terms of job growth in wisconsin our job growth has been slower than the national average, slower than ohio which has had a positive economic

trend. better than nevada at the other end of the spectrum but in that grey area for president obama. and for governor walker we had a huge debate over the recall of governor walker. economy and jobs were center to that debate but the bottom line is that sort of somewhat sluggish job growth, some positive trends in manufacturing but nothing that would i think either disqualify the president or ensure his reelection. host: looking at individual people in wisconsin, how does the state breakdown when it comes to republicans, democrats and independents? guest: we don't have registration by party. it is a swing state that's why we're talking about it. it's voted democratic in every election since reagan was on

the ballot. it's misleading because it's close to where the country is as a whole. it was the closest state in the country in 2004. it was even closer in 2,000 than it was 2004. but you had this blow out victory for president obama in 2008. democrats have tended to dominate the u.s. senate elections but we had a big republican tiedle wave in 2010. if they win the senate seat this november, it will be the first time since the 1950's we've had two republican senators so it's a state that swings between the two parties. >> as far as a map, if you were to put one up of wisconsin what areas of the state trend republican or democrat or is there a place where the two meet? guest: you have two areas and

the base areas are around milwaukee and around madison and the base area for republicans is count tiss in southeast wisconsin and heading up north along the eastern coast of wisconsin as well. but a lot of wisconsin really does swing. there are counties in northeast wisconsin that swung huge for obama in 2008 and then swung violently back for the republicans in the gubernatorial races of 2010. there were countiss that president obama one by ten points and scott walker in june won by 20 points. these more rural counties are

competitive, ticket splitters and those are going to be counties to watch in central wisconsin come election day. host: how does early voting factor in? guest: we don't have the same tradition. it's been growing but not at the same level. it's known as absentee voting. the window for early voting is narrower now and it's harder to track in wisconsin because we don't have registration by party so if you're trying to figure out which side is winning the early vote, it's more difficult. so i don't think we can say with confidence who has the advantage in the early voting in wisconsin. it will be significant but it won't be at the level like states like colorado.

host: are voters required to show i.d.? guest: a law was passed to do that but it's held up in court so they will not be required to show photo i.d. in this election. host: how about as votes are tab bue lated what are the systems in place and what makes sure they are upheld? guest: optical scanners are the system in wisconsin. it's been proven to hold up and proven under recounts we've had. that has the virtue of being easy toster and preserving a paper record. so that is the system in wisconsin. we've had some very close elections and we've had continue verse sis and debates over the voting system and over the integrity of the elections. i'm sure those are going to continue and if it's a close

election in 2012, anything like it was in 2004 and 2,000 when the margin for president was under half a percentage point, i'm sure those debates will continue. host: as far as people who turn out to vote, what st. the his 2ri? guest: thousand shall vote in wisconsin. that's been the history of the state. extraordinary levels of turn out really. we tend to lead the nation in turn out. our turn out was higher in 2004 than 2008 partly because president obama opened up this big lead at the end of 2008 and people depressed interest. it was still high. but in 2004, we essentially had almost three quarters of voting age adults votinging in the state. the number was higher if you were looking at eligible voters and so in some parts of the state where turn out is higher,

you're talking about 80%, oit% of voters voting. so that's been part of the political culture of wisconsin. even in non-presidential races we've seen extraordinary turn outs. we had great turn outs for governor in this recall fight. we had a race this spring, a non-partisan race on the spring ballot in which the turn out was higher than some states for governor in 2010. host: one of the focus of us here in c-span and craig gilbert joins us. if you want to contribute to the conversation when it comes to not only politics at large or the state of wisconsin specifically here is how you can do so.

we have set aside a special line for those of you who live in wisconsin. host: where do each of the candidates stand when it cops to this state? guest: it's a close race. i would say maybe not quite 50/50 f. you average out the polling president obama has a two or three point lead. we haven't had much new polling in the last week. but the race in the public polling narrowed -- we've gone through ups and downs for much of the year president obama has led in the vast majority of public polls but his lead was more substantial in the first part of the year. it narrowed t after paul ryan was picked for the republican ticket. it opened up a little bit after the conventions. and now it's back down to, like

i said, in that one to three point range after the first debate where you saw a lot of narrowing here and other states. but if you look in the context of the battleground, we're one of the states where president obama in one of the eight or nine states that are being contested. so there is a potential firewall for president obama if you look at ohio and wisconsin and nevada and iowa but it's only potential because all those states are very close. so we're seeing a pretty fears republican effort as well to flip wisconsin. that would have a dramatic impact on the electoral mass if they can take a state and flip it. and we're seeing a flurry of candidate visits next week. president obama will be here tuesday and paul ryan will be

here wednesday. how much of the ect of this election comes from the ripple effect of the recall of governor walker? guest: i think there's been an interesting debate about what the recall told us about the presidential election. you can overstate the implications in some ways. a recall is a pretty extraordinary event and it was pretty clear in the recall fight that some voters were voting against the recall process. they didn't think it was appropriate. so you actually had in the exit poll in the recall in june. you had between 15 and 20% of the people that voted for republican scott walker in the recall fight said they favored president obama. nts polling done every couple of weeks throughout the year, it's been pretty consistent

that 9 or 10% of the voters say they approve of governor scott walker and democratic president obama. it does tell you that republicans have had a lot of success winning elections in wisconsin. they have a motivated base that will turn out. and they also have paul ryan on the ticket. so both sides have reasons for -- have positive indicators to look at going into this election and most recently the big obama victory in 2008 and the big republican victimries in 2010 and 2010. host: time for callers to talk to you. go ahead. caller: could you please explain to me i was watching regarding that company that said you have to vote for

romney, otherwise you would be fired and also you would lose your retirement? could you explain a little bit more to me about that? host: i think what the caller is referring to is we had a story about a communication from the head of a company to his employs urge -- employees urging them to vote republican. as i understand it it wasn't vote for mitt romney or be fired or lose your job, the message was re-electing president obama would hurt the company in a way that could impact employees and so it was taken by some employees obviously as that kind of inappropriate at a minimum. and so we've had some reaction to that obviously. host: there is someone on

twitter that makes this statement -- guest: we'll have to see. the turn out will be as high as it was in the recall. this is a presidential election and people turn out. the real question that gets that is whether there is going to be some sort of enthusiasm gap between the two sides. i think turn out will be high on both sides which we saw that in 2004. we've had elections where one side has been more energized than the other. i think it's not going to be as dramatic a disparity in this election. i think both sides will be motivated. i think in wisconsin in particular, it's a state where both sides have proven their ability to turn out their vote. and so i don't doubt that turn

out will be there on both sides. whether one side has a little bit of an advantage in that, we'll have to wait and see. host: republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. my question was how does craig feel about the 14 members of the i believe it was the senate or house or whatever of representatives of wisconsin when they left the state on the vote there, how does he feel about that? and if you don't mind me -- i tried to get ahold of you for the first call with the gender issue, the 60-year-old lady who got graphic there which is fine i guess. i had a son when i turned 18, he was a month old when i graduated from high school. he is 28 now. beautiful son. i feel bad because there is

definitely some issues with the lady. host: you can go to the first part of the question. guest: he's referring to the fight we had that preceded the recall when governor walker produced his budget proposals and proposed basically rolling back collective bargaining for public employees and the tactic democrats used to try to stop that from happening was a bunch of legitimate tors left the state to prevent a quorum and camped out in illinois and then you had the big protest and controversy and that led to the recall. i don't have any personal feelings about that one way or the other. that was part of the debate. that kind of really fed on both sides the intensity of this fight. we're a very polarized state. certainly the public polling

about governor walker who has a positive approval rating in most of the polling now since all this happened. but one of the features of his standing has been fears pollization. democrats disliking him and republicans approving of him so a very divided state in a lot of ways. it's not a new thing. we had the same thing in 2004. but it's new to have that level of pollization about a governor. so we're seeing it filter down to state races where people line up by parties. we're seeing it in the senate race as well. >> what's the sentiment about paul ryan in wisconsin? guest: i think there is some goodwill in the sense he's a hometown guy. it's unclear how much of a boost that gives the republican

ticket in wisconsin either in his district or statewide. it's worth something. but the polling suggests it's on the margins. as he's become better known, like anybody else he becomes more polarizing so you've got that happening as well. i mean but i think it's one reason why republicans are -- 2350e8 like they have a shot in wisconsin is because they've got a wisconsin person on the ticket. you would think it certainly can't hurt. he did give the ticket a little bit of a bounce after he got selected but it's not clear how much of a bonus that amounts to. host: wisconsin you are up next on the democrats line. caller: i am just calling because a lady previously was talking about the news report about this company that was going to take away the people's

benefits, etc. i too have heard of a company here in milwaukee that has come out and told its employees that if they do not vote for romney and obama gets in that next year they will not be getting any raises. and i called the d.a. office here and he wants the name of the fellow who said this and i won't give it out because i don't want the young man to get fired. i wonder how many companies are doing this in this state? are you doing anything about it? i know you're a republican thing the milwaukee journal so are they checking into any of this business? host: and businesses in wisconsin and how they've reacted to either leader as far as their proposals are concerned? guest: it might be news to some republicans we're a republican

paper. but as far as the question about what is going on at some of these companies. we've reported this one case that we talked about earlier and we would report any other cases we become aware of. as i understand it, there is a state law that speaks to this that i think prohibits companies from basically trying to tell their employees how to vote as i understand it. i think i read recently about a similar case in michigan. so the woman in wisconsin we discussed is the only one i'm aware of at this time. there may be others i'm not aware. host: a tweet says -- guest: we have a senate race,

it's an open seat, a democrat is retiring. he was first elected in 1988. the democratic candidate is the congresswoman from madison. it's quite a race. it's really been a race in which has surprised a lot of people because former governor thompson was seen as the favorite and a danddat that had a history of attracting moderates and conservative democrats and cross over voters and it was felt that he was somebody that could carry the state for republicans even if republicans lost at the top of the ticket. what's happening in the polling is interesting, his cross over supporters i did minute shd as this race has hardened along party lines. he's kind of had a tough republican primary that he

barely squeaked through and there was a period of time after the primary he was out of money. and tammy baldwin emerged as the front runner in that race. it's a very close race now. she has been ahead in more polls than behind but it's extremely competitive. it's also gotten pretty negotiate tiff. virtually all the advertising you see in this race is negative. even in tone it's taken a turn in the last week. they've been exchanging dualing ads over 9/11, believe it or not. so the interesting thing in this race is what the impact of the presidential race will be on the senate race. obviously the better democrats do at the top of the ticket the better that is for tammy and the better mitt romney does is better for tommie thompson.

whether he can overcome a loss of romney at the top of the ticket is a good question. people they he will get a better percentage of the vote than romney but by how much we don't know. it's a big race and the control of the senate is in balance. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i think this is an important phone call. i want to alert the american people to an authorize. i watch "book tv "on c-span. i recommend everybody watch it on weekends and other times and you can go on the internet and see it. there is an authorize who wrote the back "the shadow bosses qult. i challenge everybody to read

that book. it is so important to understand. host: do you have a question -- caller: i'm from wisconsin. i don't care if obama is black, purple, pink, whatever, what i care about, the most important thing i care about is what he's doing to our country. he's taken the people who are in charge of the airports, all these people are yuan niesed, even military personnel are yuanized. host: go ahead. caller: i'm sorry. good morning. i was calling in to say that mr. romney wants for nothing and he is just running for president for power. if he is elected, we will go back to being barefoot and

pregnant and the states or as they're going right now are going to start becoming small countries if power is given to them. and people in the south will see the rise again of us moving into the civil war type situation. host: before we talk to you we were talking about gender issues. do social issues whatever factor into voting there in wisconsin? guest: sure, like anywhere else they go into i think the way people line up in both parties and that's -- i don't know if it's any more true or less true in wisconsin than any other state host: california. our independent line. craig, you're on. caller: is this for me now? host: you're on, sir.

go ahead. caller: i wasn't sure because you didn't list it properly. host: we're running out of time. go ahead. caller: i just want to mention because i think there's a problem with semantics in this country. and what i mean by that is everybody looks at romney from the standpoint as this man as a builder. he's not a builder he's a dismantler. and anybody that's familiar with construction fully realize that there's two different entities altogether. it's very rare that you find somebody good at building that's excellent at dismantling. and where that is a problem is he plans to dismantle social security, the health care plan, and anything to do with any power to any unions. and i would like everybody that's out here in california to pay attention to proposition 32 because what they're trying to do is trying to take away the ability of unions to negotiate with the c.e.o.s and

with big business. host: we'll leave it there. i asked you about the senate side. are there any interesting races of note to you on the house side? guest: well there are kind of three races to look at. i think all involving republican incumbents and all in which the republican incumbents are favored to win. one of them is paul ryan's own race. we have this odd situation where he's on the ballot for vice president and on the ballot in the in congress. he's spending money about $2 million. he's running a lot of ads. his opponent has been raising some nationally. paul ryan is the favorite to get reelectd in that race but it's an interesting situation. we've got two republican freshmen one in the green bay area and one up north in northern wisconsin. shawn duffy.

they both have contested races. they're both favored to win those races but they are contested races. and they've been targeted by the national parties at different times in this election. so those are -- that's also part of the picture. having gotten this much attention obviously the senate race and the presidential race. and we also have a battle for the state legislator, control of the state legislator as well. so we have kind of a full ballot in wisconsin. host: so finally, if someone is to say to you what should i watch for out of wisconsin on election night, what would you say to them? guest: well, watch for the turnout. i think it will be sky high. two big race force senate and president. i'm going to be interested to see whether they're just cookie cutter images of each other because how importantlyized and nationalized these elections have become or whether we get plit outcomes and whether we

get an election that's much more like 2000 and 2004 which was decided by less than half a percentage point in both cases or whether wisconsin ends up performing in a little better for democrats than their national numbers which has also happened on occasion. so wisconsin kind of swings back and forth between those two patterns and those are some of the things i'll be interested in watching on election night. host: not only does our guest cover national politics but serves as bureau chief. we focus back on wisconsin taking a look on that as a battleground state. brian joins us from milwaukee, the vice chairman of the republican party of wisconsin. there's a mab and there's mr. shimming. our previous guest talked about in 2008 the president won by a significant lead. now a narrow lead. what do you think happened in that time frame? guest: well we've had a couple good years here not unlike the rest of the country 2006 and

2008 it was kind of a democrat sweep. here in wisconsin, in 2010 we won the governorship away from the democrats and elected ron johnson and picked up two congressional seats, the eighth and the third, swept control of the legislator. so we've had a very, very good year in 2010. frankly, we had kind of a switch in this state. i think with the national economic situation as it is, it's hit wisconsin hard. and you saw that reflected in the polls and the gubetorle race and now you're seeing it here in the presidential race as well. host: so as far as mitt romney is concerned, what does he have to do to secure the state? guest: well really at this point we've been through so much here in wisconsin as you know we had recall elections in the last two years in the legislature and with the governor's race. and the governor successfully fought off that recall actually won by a bigger margin than in his first race.

so we have a lot of momentum here. we've a lot of it right now is making the final sale but also turnout here in wisconsin. republicans have -- we have probably the best ground game -- in fact not probably. we do have the best ground game we've had in wisconsin in my 25 years of working politics here. we have 25 offices opened statewide. we've hit almost 3 million doors. we've got almost 3 million calls we've had hundreds of thousands of doors. so we're organized here in wisconsin like we never have been and we come in with momentum after governor walker's successful recall. so we're feeling pretty good. host: as far as the state itself is concerned are there areas where you're concentrating on over others? guest: here in wisconsin a good share of the vote is kind of between green bay to milwaukee to madison triangle. that's about 70% of the state's

votes. so oftentimes presidential candidates on both sides focus on that area. but we have active campaigns in all 72 counties. republicans generally do well statewide when we do well in the suburbs kind of the collar around milwaukee and up in the fox valley and then kind of match the democrats person for person outstate. one of the thing that is governor walker's successful election did is we had victories, republican victories in counties where frankly we haven't won in a long time in this state. so we saw numbers coming out of that recall that we've never seen before. and following those numbers we've got organization and volunteers and all of that. so even before paul ryan was on the ticket, frankly, it was a couple of point race here in wisconsin. and with paul ryan's addition on to the ticket we are as optimistic as we can be. host: brian shimming for our discussion. our first call for him is

milwaukee. it's on our democrat's line. doris. good morning. go ahead. caller: i'd like to just say what milwaukee -- we have children that do not have any medical care. they go to apply and they tell them there's a two year wait. these are children that are honor roll students and they have no insurance because they do not hontr obama care. host: so as far as this relation to this election what's your question? caller: i have many questions. i have comments also about how these the politics are acting on tv. then they tell our children. it's ashame how they disrespect president obama. it's ashame how they disrespected bush when he was in office when they threw a shoe. host: any take away from that?

guest: well, i think both sides agree the politics haven't gotten any more beautiful. that's for sure. but with respect with the romney campaign and the campaign here, this is a campaign about the country's future. wisconsin we've lost just under 100,000 jobs under president obama. we've talked about thing that is affect families and affect neighborhoods and health care and jobs. wisconsin really has suffered as much as almost any state with the loss of those jobs in the slowdown in economic activity. it's punishing the working people of the state. so what i would say to you in general terms is that we need a better economy. we need to have more jobs. we need to have a better future. so everybody's future is going to get better when this economy gets back on its feet. and it's not 43 months of over % unemployment. that doesn't help working people, it doesn't help anybody. so we have to turn that around.

that's what governor romney is focused on. host: let me get your perspective on this. he just makes this perspective. how would you respond to that? guest: well, having introduced him a couple of times he's anything but that. i will tell you this. you talk about transparency. mitt romney's economic plan is plan for the future has been on his website for months. one of the comecal things is the sitting president who suffered .3% unemployment, millions of people out of jobs, home foreclosures at record rate. the list goes on and on. he presented his plan for the future. not in the debate but in a 20 page document that he released after the debate essentially two weeks after the election. what kind of transparency is that? mitt romney and paul ryan have been out with plans for months

real live workable plans for months have been doing town halls talking about the details of those things. look, one thing we've learned in wisconsin when scott walker inherit it had governorship he inherited a 3.6 billion budget deficit in this state. i've been working around state government for a while. it's the worst economic and budget situation i've ever seen a governor have to inherit of either party. and one of the things that he did and i appreciate about what mitt romney and paul ryan are doing is talking straight to the people about what the issues are that are facing these countries. look, you don't have to be a republican or democrat to know we have big problems. and the question i think that folks have to face here in this election is who is providing that path into the future that's going to solve some of those problems. and mitt romney and paul ryan have been talking about them. host: republican line thanks for waiting. go ahead. caller: good morning. i haven't called in a while and i'm kind of nervous.

tomorrow morning at 7:00 early voting opens here in florida. i'm in the tampa bay area. and i would like to ask you a couple of things about mitt romney. i'm edging towards him. my husband and i are going at 7:00. and i understand that gender it was question this morning as i understand obama did sign into law the what is it the lb -- host: lily led better act? caller: i like that. but he also signed in the lesbian and gay transgender thing into the military. and we have a very high rate ins accidents in the military. -- incident. and i would like to know because of gender issues how mitt romney stands on that. my next question is -- host: we'll have to leave it at that. mr. shimming, if there's something you want to take from

that. guest: well, it's kind of a multipronged question. i think what i would tell you with respect to what we've seen here in the polling i think really after the first debate but certainly with the two debates is that the women -- what we've seen with just talking in focus groups and thousands of people on the streets the kind of issues that all people are worried about but women are worried about are economic ones. look, this economy has punished women worse than it has anyone really. i mean, as hundreds of thousands of people out of work. the punishment to women has been terrible in this economy. and the way to help all voters and women voters as well is to get the economy back on its feet. that's what the election's about. you know, we can get chased off on all sorts of side issues but ultimately for everyone and all these issues are important obviously what she's saying.

all these issues are important. but one of the reason that is we've seen the quote gender gap narrow to nothing if not mitt romney ahead of women is that the important issues facing women today are just ones that the governor and congressman ryan are addressing. that's why the fabled 16 or 18 point gender gap is almost advantage romney. it's a problem for the president. host: new jersey, denise. good morning. democrat's line. hello. lets go to greg in richfield, wisconsin. caller: thank you for c-span. i would like to point out a couple things to my democratic friends about the republican party that are being used as scare tactics. republicans like clean water. we want no pollution, we want jobs, we want better education.

i would also like to point out that what has happened with fast and furious, intelligence leaks, the keystone pipeline. these are gigantic issues that i feel the democrats are being very hypocritical about in the fact that they're letting president obama slide with them along with a lot of other issues. i'm asking the democrats to open up your ice and look at things objectively. thank you. host: and the issues that he listed? what would you make of those? guest: i agree with him on all things certainly with respect to the keystone pipeline. and the president listening to him in the debate he made him sound like he as supporter of the keystone pipeline. he's not a supporter of the keystone pipeline. that's tens of thousands of jobs for working people across several states in middle america. i mean, that one i just don't understand from the president. particularly the case to listen to the the president in the debate you would think he was a

supporter of energy exploration and development at home. and yet he's been the most hostile to energy exploration at home of any president we've had of either party. you know, he talks about increasing oil production in america, it's been done on private lands not on federal lands. so this is probably interestingly, this is probably one of the biggest issues i think that the country faces. if we truly want to be independent of foreign sources of energy, we can do it. we have all the resources we need here in america. the question is are we going to go ahead and do what we need to do to be independent? the president is not been doing it. mitt romney will. host: correct me if i'm wrong. with the republicans in the state that decided to confine early voting to a smaller period this year of two weeks or so? guest: early voting in wisconsin will at least in person voting will finish a

week from today actually. it will be a week from today. early voting started this past monday and will finish i believe a week from today. but absentee ballots can be accepted up until after the election. we made some common sense changes in the election law here because in wisconsin we have a bit of a different state. we don't have a state wide voter's list here in wisconsin. you have to go out and get it in all the counties. and wisconsin also has a huge number of local units of government. wisconsin is about 5.5 million people. we have about 1850 local units of government. and so there's a lot of bureaucracy there and so we put some common sense changes into place to try to bring order a little bit to some of the elections. look, acorn and some of those groups don't like it but the voters consistently and als on the voter id bill.

70% of the people in wisconsin wanted a voter iron d bill we gave it to them and now it's caught up in the courts. host: hatie. guest: -- caller: yes, sir. i'm going to ask this gentleman here. i'm going to ask him if romney is so good with jobs why doesn't he have plants and everything there? if he's so good with jobs and everything he can count that. now, president obama has preant lot of jobs for so many months and also with his republican house he could have been making other jobs. do republicans think more of the republican party instead of the whole country? and the democrats -- i'm a

senior citizen here. and whoever would do the best for everybody, i would have voted for them. but you have to think about romney. now you say that romney had a plan. that with jobs. i think listening to all of it coming up he hasn't had anything. he hasn't created no jobs. and president obama has. he has a layout for that . host: we'll let our guest respond. guest: well, with all possible respect, the president had a much lower unemployment rate when he took over and it's gone to over 10% in his administration. and it's kind of flattened out above 8%. so the president is not doing very well on jobs with all due respect to you. and he had the president had the first two years of his term with veto-proof majorities in both the house and the senate and he wasted his time in the first two years of office instead of focusing on the

economy he did a stimulus bill, which is has not helped the country number one. but number two, he wasted his time putting obama care into place. we need health care reform but we don't need obama care. and all the polls told him the whole time the whole two years and they still do that the country didn't want obama care and he and the democratic party in the house and senate forced it down our throats. with respect to jobs, this president seven times has turned down the opportunity to make china a currency manipulator. china has stolen 2 million jobs out of america along with intellectual property as well. we need a president who is going to stand up to china. and frankly just chart a path beyond china to go into the future. and that will be mitt romney. host: tre main lives in milwaukee on the independent line for our guest.

good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning here. well, i'm only 21 years old so i'm new to all of this. but i listened to the question about obama with the democracy and -- i'm sorry. host: you're going to have to rephrase and expand on that caller: with the insurance thing. as young people we don't really listen to every single thing that comes on but i've been watching tv for the last couple days and trying to make a good decision on who do i really want for president. host: so as far as those issues your decision making, how would you list them as far as one two

three? what are your main issues when deciding? caller: well my main issue is the health care issue. because a lot of my people are older people. but the second thing i'm listing is i don't like the thing that is romney is going to do with the kids. i'm a new dad so my kids watch pbs. he wants to cut a lot of funding which is fine with me but which funds really should be cut? guest: host: so in light of his issues specifically do you have a sense of voters in wisconsin that maybe be that first time voter or perhaps those who would identify themselves as independent and still kind of deciding on who they're going to vote for? guest: well, they've been swinging mitt romney's way especially since the first vote. thrazz couple of reasons for that. number one if you're a young person you go to college or tech school or you're looking for some kind of higher

education outside of high school, particularly if you're coming out of college right now you have a 1 in 2 chance of being unemployed or under employed when you come out of college because the opportunities are not out there for people like our caller if they were to come out of college or school today every extra point in unemployment means a couple thousand dollars -- several thousand dollars in lost income over your career. so to have high unemployment especially in a place like milwaukee which is the biggest urban area. milwaukee in wisconsin is about 600,000 people. especially to take the punishment that they've taken from the obama economy and the economic policies in the last four years, that punishes our caller which is the importance of changing course here. so believe me i hear what he is saying i used to run a program in wisconsin and also in milwaukee that was youth

employment and training. i faced many of these issues in urban areas. it's a punishment and we have to turn the economy around. and the president has failed. i think one of the things to come out of the debates and certainly the last debate the president has failed on every economic metric out there. it's complete failure. i mean, frankly at some point you've got to make a decision, a kitchen table decision about what the future looks like. that goes for our last caller and any of the ones before him. host: the previous caller also identified herself as a senior citizen. what's the state makeup of that group and how does the factor especially social security and things like that issue? guest: the question will be where are we going to go forward in the future? are we going to reform it to save it or are we going to stay on the democrat's current path which is bankrupting the stms? and that's why you know what? i always say folks we always kind of kick the can down the road. well, the can's gotten too big

and the road's gotten too short. frankly, we have to face some of these issues. that's why mitt romney and congressman ryan are not afraid to face them. the president is trying to get reelected. look, he won wisconsin by 14 points four years ago and he's hanging on for dear life here now. but it's not just wisconsin. it's across the country. you see that trend towards mitt romney among in particularly actually among seniors and other voter groups for that reason. host: here is hazelton, maryland. mike on our republican line. or actually north dakota. go ahead. caller: my question is, i've been in the oil since the 1980s. i've worked in this type of environment and i've never struggled for a job. you've got thousands of people from wisconsin out here working

saving their homes, livelihood their families. president obama wants to take away hydraulic fracturing after he's reelected and i'm nervous about that. and the coal industry as well. i'd like to hear your thoughts. guest: well, i think you have a good right to be nervous. the president obviously maybe was a little deceptive during these debates. you would think he was for fracking and key stone pipeline but you've got to judge the president not by what he said. you've got to judge him by his record. the president needs to -- the president spent $400 million kind of trashing mitt romney before the first debate. and trying to build up people's negatives about mitt romney and that disappeared in about 10 minutes in the first debate. and we've seen that now all across the country. so for folks like you in north dakota but frankly in all the states you've got to look at

these two candidates and say who is really going to get us to energy independence? you look at the president's record. he clearly will not. host: green bay press gazette reports that the president is slated to appear in wisconsin next tuesday. vice president biden appears today. has there been any stops by either mitt romney or paul ryan this week? guest: just before i came on air here it was announced that governor romney will be here in the milwaukee area in west dallas on monday as well paul ryan will be in mid week next week. the vice ppt is in a couple stits here in wisconsin today. so i think wisconsin's reflecting as we know it's down to seven or eight states now and wisconsin the situation wisconsin is reflecting what happens not only in the closing days of a campaign or the number of states kind of shrinks but also the president's desperation in wisconsin. it's a state he wonly a

landslide and now is starting to lose. host: what are you going to be watching for on election h night? caller: i think the usual turnout. democrats and republicans are watching the same areas around the state. as i say our ground game here in wisconsin has been phenomenal lights out. so we've been very, very excited. it's great to have paul ryan on the ticket. we're excited about that. but our ground game here has been phenomenal even better than we had in the recall. and scott walk anywhere that recall was successful beating that recall back carried areas in the state republican has not carried in a long time. and we're looking to extend some of those victories a week from tuesday. host: brian shimming serves as the vice chairman of the republican party of wisconsin. thanks for your time this morning. if you've been joining us you know that over the days leading up to election day we will be taking a look at what are known as battleground states listed you can see there on the

screen. today we are focusing our attention on wisconsin. joining us to give a perspective mike of the wisconsin democratic party. he serves as their chairman and joins us. guest: good morning. host: let's start where i start with mr. shimming in 2008 where the president had a significant lead. what happened in that time? what does it mean for him now? guest: well, i think what happened in 2008 we saw a huge historic wave for democrats across the country and in wisconsin which has been the most competitive battleground states we saw a big landslide for the president. i think that this year wisconsin is a little more competitive. we've had a lot of travel from the president and vice president. but i do still think that this is a state where the president is ahead and where the president is going to win on election davis day. and winning wisconsin is going to be one of the reasons that the president wins the white house again. host: what makes you say that

the president has the edge? guest: i think the president has the edge both in wisconsin and nationally because he has many more paths to the votes than mitt romney does. mitt romney who if he is contesting wisconsin has just barely decided to start showing up here has a lot of ground. he's trailing in ohio and he's got to fight it out in states that the president can afford to lose where he can't afford to take a loss at all. so i feel good about the infrastructure that's been built by the obama for america campaign here in wisconsin. a dozen field offices well over a hundred staff, hundreds of doors knocked on phone calls made. on the ground where it matters the voter to voter contact here in wisconsin the president's got an edge and i think he's going to win and tammy baldwin is going to be our next united states senator as well. host: what's their role now? what's your role now in the days leading up to election day? guest: we're getting out the

vote. our job is to make sure that we have resources on the ground to get volunteers out knocking on doors making the phone calls doing the thing that is we know through study and history and experience drives up our vote so we're going to make sure that people are voting early. you can vote early up until the friday before the election. and we've got a strong focus on the early vote. but we're going to make sure we're out there talking about voters, talking about the president's positive message to move this country forward, to build this country from the middle out and contrasting that with mitt romney's record which would take this country in the wrong direction. host: as far as mitt romney and other republicans have talked about the president's lack of plan for the next four years. the president did put one out there. what do you think about what he's proposed and is it enough? guest: i'm sorry. can you say that again? host: it's ok. the president just recently announced his plan for the next four years. what do you make of his proposals for the next four years and tell us a little bit

as far as there's been republican criticism that he didn't have a proposal up until now. guest: well, i think that the president has been talking about his plans and agenda for this entire campaign. he packaged into a really good booklet that people can find in the president's website. i think it talks about investing in jobs, investing in this country, investing in education. the president inherited a pretty tough mess four years ago. by every metric this country is getting better. things are not where they need to be but this president has moved this country forward and is going to continue whether it's reducing our independence on foreign oil by growing this country from the middle out. and i believe that under the president's leadership four years from now this country is going to be in an even stronger place. host: off of twitter.

guest: well, i think not only are we going to win this state with paul ryan on the ticket. i think we're going to win paul ryan's congressional district. i think that having paul ryan on the ticket may have energized the movement nationally but the only thing it's dobe is expose paul ryan for what he truly is which is having some truly radical ideas that would end social security -- end medicare, that would threaten social security retirement. paul ryan may be a nice guy and a packers fan but his ideas are anything but nice and they should scare the living pants out of every working family in wisconsin. i think we've started to see that. so i think having paul ryan in the ticked is going to help us win because it's pulled the wool back on what paul ryan's ideas really are. host: our guest is with us to talk to you about wisconsin as a battleground state. shannon from jill et, wisconsin. joins us on our democrat's line. good morning. caller: thanks for take mig call.

i just wanted to say something about what had been said with the previous gentleman that you were talking to when he was talking about oil fracking like it was a good thing or natural gas fracking. i'm a chemistry teacher both at the high school level and college level. some that they're going to be create are quality jobs. when they use the blend that we're not allowed to know about disabled the acfers under the rocks they're fracking i don't like the idea that we have to choose between gas and water because i need to choose water every time. but what i would really like this gentleman to speak to me about is to nor queth pledge and what that did to obama and how it may have crippled him because i don't know if a lot of people in my area understand that. host: and our guest is refering to the pledge that primarily republicans have signed from grover nor quist but go ahead. guest: well, i think she the

nor quist pledge mitt romney took which is grover nor quist basically forces every republican to sign a pledge saying they will never raise any new revenue of any kind while in office. which basically hand cuffs the republican party to its ability to prevent this country from moving forward. to think that this country is never going to need new revenue is absolutely absurd. and frankly it's hypocritical because they don't have a problem proposing ideas that are going to raise taxes on middle class families. but if you try to have the wealthy pay a little more fair share then they say we signed this pledge. it is something that hand cuffs the republicans from embracing a policy that would help grow this country, this economy and continue to make this country a leading super power. host: pensacola, florida. independent line. caller: yes.

i'm just sitting here and i'm very much an independent. i don't care for either party. but to me it's very, very funny that mr. ryan is running for two offices in the state of wisconsin. he talks about budgets and all that. we had a recall -- i mean, reelection when our republican congressman quit a few years and it cost our county $2 million out of our budget. and when people talk about budgets but then they don't worry about how it's affected. i would like to know his answer to that. how can he run for two offices at the same time and if he wins one of them they'll have to have another election. guest: well, i think that's a really good point. our state constitution has a provision so that if you are selected to run on the national ticket you can still run for the office you hold at the same time. but i think the fact that paul ryan is trying to hold on to

his congressional feet is a safety vest if you will for the likely proposition that he and mitt romney lose the white house run is sort of hypocritical. the fact that he won't come back here and debate his opponent for the congressional seat i think speaks very poorly to his devotion to the residents. the guy run forg congress who is running a great campaign against paul ryan on television right now and i think rob is going to give paul ryan a run for his money primarily because paul ryan has not come back to talk to his constituents, to talk to the people whose vote he's seeking for congress. host: this is our look at wisconsin as the battleground state. joining us mite tate of the democratic party. steven up next on our republican line. this is adele, wisconsin. go ahead. caller: a couple of things here. we've got tammy baldwin run forg the u.s. senate here in wisconsin. i believe she's also let me

call it right now house of representatives. did she give up her thing there as the house of representatives when he ran? i'm not really sure. but also, i want to say i'm really -- you talked about medicare when they took away 716 billion out of medicare that scares me. also how can you vote for even stand for -- i'm sorry but our president and in ben gazzie when that whole group lied for weeks on what happened there. blaming a movie and when they knew two hours later the truth. i'm really sorry for you, sir. and you talk about spending money. how about our recall 13 billion or million dollars for the recall? ridiculous. thank you.

guest: well, there's a lot going on in that call. let me see what i can do to address it. tammy baldwin representative of the second congressional district since 1998 and a fabulous job did give up her seat to run for the senate. mark is a democrat running there going to be our next member of congress we're very excited about that. in reference to that $716 billion, that was money that was allocated to actually defray costs and make medicare solvent for a little bit longer. sort of the biggest lie the republicans tell this cycle that the president stole $716 billion from medicare. what he did was he talked to a bunch of people and said if we move these costs into medicare we're going to make it solvent for longer. and it was such a good idea that paul ryan put it in his own budget. so it's a line that the republicans keep selling because they don't have anything real to offer the people of wisconsin right now. and it's really unfortunate that they keep repeating this

lie over and over again that the president stole $716 billion from medicare. the thing that seniors should be afraid of the thing that people should be afraid of is the republican plan to turn medicare into voucher care. which is instead of having a guaranteed benefit that we provided our seniors for so long we would have a voucher where sers would go out in the open market purchase health care and like we have to make up the difference in cost and it could cost seniors up to $6,000 a year out of pocket. i don't think that's the right way to go. that's where the republicans want to go that's their idea and they've been clear about that. but i just think that's the wrong thing to take our retirees, our seniors. and it's why i think we're going to defeat mitt romney and paul ryan and reelect the president and send tammy baldwin to the united states senate where she will be a champion for medicare and social security. host: and there's a story saying that tommy thompson's campaign has about $1.3 million in cash in the final days is that a concern to you?

guest: well there's been an awful lot of spending in this campaign. yo i don't get scared or deterred by how much money the republicans have. tommy thompson after he left wisconsin went off and served in bush's cabinet then he cashed in as a special influence guy for lobbyists and pharmaceutical companies. but one of the reason i think his campaign has so much money and you see so much outside spending is that he cut this deal on medicare part d where he made it so that the government cannot negotiate with the prescription drug companies for lower drug prices. i think this is the ultimate payback for tommy giving such a great give away to the prescription drug companies. and he's just not the same guy that people remember from his hey day in the 80's and that may be why they're spending money as a reward for making themselves so much wealthier. host: on our democrat's line. nate. go ahead, please.

caller: romney's just a business man. and what he does is whatever the president says he's going to come to the president's way of thinking. you saw that in the last debate. we hear talk about well the president has no ideas. the president knows that whatever he does, romney's going to copy it. the first debate they said that romney won that debate. the second and third debate, if romney doesn't win they don't want to talk about the debate. i have not seen one poll this year where ryan was leading. in his home state. they don't even want to make that a point. he cannot even make with his own state not one poll. and the only reason why the republicans look half as good as they do especially in

electoral college because a lot of the states like michigan, pennsylvania, even wisconsin is solidly for the president and they won't move them over to the -- they keep them in the neutral column. host: can i add that there's a u.s.a. today survey talking about what people perceive as the victor and they give that edge to mitt romney. guest: well i think that the debates are an opportunity for people to hear from the candidates and i think what we saw especially in the last debate is the president has dubbed it rom nearbya. mitt romney says one thing to be the republican nominee says a completely different thing when he knows he's behind in the polls and to moderate his extreme positions. it's hard to tell where mitt romney stands on foreign affairs on women's issues on taxes. he doesn't really tell the truth. and i think that's -- i don't know that we've ever had a presidential candidate in modern times display such

falsehoods in the debatesd as we've seen from mitt romney. host: up next missouri republican line go ahead. caller: good morning, gentlemen. i'm calling to talk about jobs. i'm kind of a disenchanted republican not real happy with my choice for presidential person this year but i'm not real happy with obama either. he keeps talking about jobs and what he is doing for america. but thus far the only thing i've really seen him do is his roads and bridges programs. and that takes care of a very small and select group of individuals in this country. they're overpriced. these guys are making a for tune. it doesn't cost $30 million to do two miles worth of road. it's just not right. why isn't anybody sitting down with some of these big retail

companies and instead of farming money out to other countries people that come in and giving them money to build the holiday inb's and convenience stores basically for free. host: the president's job on job creation. guest: the president inherlted a terrible mess. this country was hemorrhaging jobs when the president took over. the unemployment rate is below 8%. it is headed in the right direction. we're going to keep going. and the problem with the republican's theory of government which is you give all the money to the people at the top of the economic scheme and that wealth will trickle down. it sounds good in theory but it never worked. it simply is an economic theory that makes the rich richer while the people in the middle class struggling to get into the middle class get left behind by the side of the trail. the reason the president is on

the right track, the reason we've had months and months of job growth in this country is because we're investing in the middle class, into education and innovation and infrastructure and making sure that we're going to have transition to clean energy and that's going to create thousands of new jobs in this country. you know, you really have -- you do see a clear difference between where the president will take us and between mitt romney's ideas. host: east hampton, connecticut. jay on the independent line. caller: i would like to ask a question. i am an independent and i tend to look for like some points of honesty in the campaigns. and i saw an interview during the democratic convention that was interviewing the massachusetts governor to mitt

romney. and he was asked about the transition period into the new administration. and he said that was easy. they left me three quarters of a page of paper and they took all the hard drives out of the massachusetts government computers. and for the life of me i can't think of what legitimate reason you would take all the hard drives out of all the government computers. it just -- it's beyond my comprehension. host: maryland you are next. independent line. caller: thank you for c-span. thank you, mike. i'm an independent though i'm a little more progressive than most democrats. i tend to vote down the democratic ticket. my comment is that you have a candidate in mitt romney who is

entire focal point for this campaign is fiscal issues and creating jobs. but when you look at his plan it just doesn't make sense. and i'm curious as to how someone would even consider supporting this guy. he's his campaign's plan is to increase the tax rate or lower the tax rate, i'm sorry, and cut the debt. but u it just doesn't really add up when you think about it. we talked about the deductions that close -- he refuses to tell us what deductions he would close and even if he closed all the deduction tharps there to close it still wouldn't make up for the clost income that we would have with the tax rate. host: the question is? caller: the question that i have is how someone would support a candidate whose plans doesn't make sense. guest: if i could just add to that, i think that the caller

makes a really good point which is mitt romney's economic plan is give the people at the very top of the economic scheme the people who have been doing very well for the last ten years give them more money. and what you have to do is you then have to replace that. sure you can cut spending but you have to raise taxes on the middle class and what you basically do ask you lock up government and you have to start cutting things so whether it's families that rely on the home mortgage interest deduction as a way to make it and be a homeowner and realize that version of the american dream, whether it's pell grants for students who study hard but can't quite afford to go to college the ability to afford college. his whole plan obviously in my opinion doesn't enable this country to grow. and it's an example of an economic policy that has been tried in this country. wits tried under bush and it failed and it has been tried at other times and failed. i understand the appeal because

i understand if you give more to the people at the top they'll do more with that money and it will employ people down line. it just doesn't work. it's never worked. and i think that is the big problem that republicans face is the simple fact of the matter that their economic plans would not grow this country . host: what's 7.3% unemployment rate in wisconsin do as far as voters on election day from your perspective? guest: well, i think that people in wisconsin look it's been tough here. we lost the gm plant in the last few months of george w. bush's tenure. we've lost some manufacturing jobs. you know, we've had a governor who has had a pretty progressive agenda that hasn't allowed jobs to grow. but i do think that people in wisconsin know that things are getting better that we're turning a corner. our unemployment rate is a little lower than nationally. and i think they understand that this country's headed in the right direction. we're on the right track.

we came from a big hole. the president has dug hymn out of this -- himself out of this whole. host: your job and the obama campaign's job more difficult because of the reerecall? guest: i don't think it has an impact one way or the other. host: and so this is mike tate of the wisconsin democratic party joining us and talking about issues when it comes to wisconsin. we track one more call. ohio republican line good morning. caller: yes. i love how obama has taken such pride in saying that he has created so many jobs. there are so many people that are having to work part time jobs or working two -- temporary jobs whatever trying to make ends meet because they're not hiring full time. and they count these as one

full job. i don't get that pride that obama can have on that. also, i love how you skipped over benghazi. people are ignoring and finding out the truth and how obama has lied about benghazi. and it's going to hit him in the face whether or not he's president again or what. unless you guys think that you can hide everything from the united states people. host: go ahead. guest: well, you know, i think that the president's been very clear that we know that some people that have gotten back to work haven't been able to find full time work again. and unfortunately that's not helped by governors that you have in ohio and wisconsin who go out of their way to bust up organized labor and make working conditions harder for average families to get good wages, to get full time jobs that have pro-vide health care benefits. thankfully the president is doing a lot to help that matter. with respect to foreign policy, i think that the record has

been clear. i know that this is a desperate act of a desperate campaign in the closing days to try to say that the president lied to the american people. i think that's simply not true and i think that it is offensive to the good men and women who are neither democrats nor republicans but get up every day and work for the national security of this country. host: finally, what are you going to be watching for in your state on election night? guest: well, i think in wisconsin it's a unique blend. you have to turn out your base. democratic voters but you also need to make sure that you're getting the votes of swing voters, whether it's in the milwaukee suburbses or green bay area, the lacrosse market. we want to see big turnouts in the milwaukee and madison area. and then we just need to hold our own in markets like green bay where it's a very competitive swing market. you know, wisconsin's -- i love wisconsin. it's a fabulous state to watch politics in. it can be kind of a tough state politically. but it's a great formula to put together a democratic victory and i'm really looking forward to see the president win on

election day as well as tammy bald winlwin being our next senator. host: mr. tate, thanks for your time. >> tomorrow on "washington journal" molly ball explains how field offices volunteers and voter contacts impact campaign 2012. then a look at the campaign and the issues in the battleground state of north carolina with rob christianen sen, political reporter with the news and observer in raleigh. ishea due, chair of the democratic party and gidion moore head of the republican party. "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern o crn span. >> now through election day watch our coverage of the presidential candidates plus debates from key races from around the country. next, the funeral for former south dakota senator and presidential candidate george

mcgovern. then mitt romney campaigns in iowa. after that, first lady michelle obama campaigns in las vegas. >> i think that we have to have the discussion about political ideology here in this country when we talk about progressivism and the history and where it came from. i think it's very easy to talk about communism, mamplism socialism and modern state statism. now, as far as what happened with the comment, someone came up to me at the speaker's lobby and asked me a simple question. how do you feel about the fact that the majority of americans believe that the only people on capitol hill are republicans? and i said there was a prop gabbeda machine out there operating that seemingly he could be proud of. i thought we lived in america where there's freedom of speech and expression and i'm not going to be afraid of people just because they get upset. >> the reason i decided to run for public office is because of

the extreme yism of the tea party that's no way to run the party forward. whether it's your family or business you've got to be able to work across the aisle and do what's best for your district for your state for your country. and when you're spending your time calling people communists or comparing them to nazis and marxists that's no way to get things done. we've got to find compromise and make the tough decisions in our country right now. and when you're more focused on that there's no way to reach across the aisle and do what's best for everybody. >> i like c-span's coverage because it's well diversified. it covers all sides independent democrat and republican views. c-span is not boring because it's so top kfment there are current events which is very interesting to me.

and i love what's going on right now and they're talking about issues that matter to americans right now. >> now the funeral service for former south dakota senator and presidential candidate george mcgovern. he spent four years in the house and 18 in the senate and lost the presidential election to richard nixon. he died at the age of 90. among those speaking former senate majority leader tom daschle who is also from south dakota. this is two hours.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> jesus said i am the resurrection and the life, those who believe in me even though they die shall live. and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. i am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. i died and behold i am alive forever more and i hold the keys of life and death. because i have live, you shall live also. friends, we have gathered here to praise god and witness our faith as we celebrate the life of george mcgovern. we come together in grief acknowledging our human loss and we ask that god would grant

us grace that in pain we might find comfort, in sorrow, hope, and in death, resurrection. the past toor of sioux falls methodist church is officiating with me today. let us pray. god, we praise you for the company of all those who finished their course and now rest from their labor. today we remember eleanor, terri and steve mcgovern. we praise you for those deer to us who we've named in our hearts before you and

especially we praise you for george mcgovern who you have graciously received into your presence. oh god, grant us your peace. let your light shine on all of us and help us so to believe where we have not seen that your presence may lead us through your years and bring us at last within in the joy of your home not made with hands but eternal in the heavens. through jesus christ our lord we pray, amen. ♪ ♪ ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

♪

♪

♪

brothers and sisters, family and friends, and senator mcgovern, the holley scripture tell us there is a season for everything, time to be born and a time to die, time to weep and

a time to laugh, time to mourn and a time to dance. george stanley mcgovern was born over 90 years ago and now he has died. we weep over the loss of this wonderful man and yet we laugh because he is now finished his final stage in growth in dying. we mourn his departure and yet we dance as we remember the legacy he left behind our state, our country, our world is better because of the footprints that he has left

behind. soon after his first election lengthy seminary training. we both started in mitchell. friendship has grown ever neighborhood and shared time

once when i did -- jeans once when i did remind him when he the son of the king of troy. he not only gave his permission might ask for as a wedding

began growing wrinkled and

those greeks might have been on friend who have passed on to yond and i had no idea what's out there but somehow i feel it's going to be

want to tell you that your presence is a treasured gift to all members of the mcgovern family. i want to say to you in the name of the family and closest friends, thank you, thank you for coming to this memorial service from near and from far. the city, state and national reaction to the senator's demise is simply stunned everyone. why is his death so highlighted across the whole nation and indeed throughout the world in radio , television and newsprint journalism?

for some, it has to be his leadership on feeding the hungry, the work of mercy of our one world family so that millions of children have not starved or died or become retarded because of proper nourishment and because of the efforts of this man. others love him for proving to america that you don't have to be a hawk in order to be a good patriot of our beloved country. and still other may have been

charmed by this man william f. buckley was as conservative as senator mcgovern was progressive and yet when his son asked him what he thought of george mcgovern, william buckley said he was the single nicest human being i have ever met. his son printed that answer in his book called "mom and pop" he wrote after both of them had died. and here in south dakota political historians from both universities that i was affiliated with have claimed that george mcgovern almost singlehandedly brought his

party of a long slumber and it became a state bipartisan again. so rest in peace dear friend t. worse without you.

you, god the son who redeemed you and god the holy spirit who sanctified be yours this day and you live in his company ♪